Cops Seeking To Link Auto, Kidnaped Man

November 30, 1989|By Robert Enstad.

A Toyota found abandoned and burning in a forest preserve near Arlington Heights early Monday may be linked to the mysterious disappearance of a Vernon Hills gas station attendant, investigators said Wednesday.

They said the car, which was found in a field just northwest of Lake-Cook and Arlington Heights Roads, was registered to a relative of the former wife of the victim, George Wilson Jr., 46, of Palatine.

Wilson apparently was robbed and abducted early Monday from the Mobil gas station and car wash at Mall Drive and Ill. Hwy. 60 in Vernon Hills, only a few miles from where the burning car was found. A large amount of blood was found in a restroom of the station, and a bloody hammer and screwdriver were found in the cubicle where Wilson worked as a cashier.

About $437 was taken from a safe in the cubicle.

Police Chief Gary Kupsak of Vernon Hills said firefighters responded to a call of the burning Toyota hatchback at about 3:15 a.m. Monday. That was not long after Wilson is believed to have disappeared from the Mobil station.

Kupsak said computer tapes at the station showed that the cash register was last opened at about 1:30 a.m.

Because of the large amount of blood found at the gas station, investigators believe that Wilson was seriously injured or killed. ``We thought we would have found a body by now,`` Kupsak said.

The Toyota, which was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, was about 800 to 900 feet north of Lake-Cook Road in a field that is part of the Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve of Lake County.

Within hours of that discovery, another car, a stolen 1987 Buick, was found abandoned in almost the same area, said Arthur Gill, the supervisor of rangers for the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Because of the discoveries, searchers combed the entire 400 acres of the forest preserve Wednesday morning in search of Wilson. About 20 police and forest preserve rangers scoured the area aided by an Illinois State Police helicopter and canine units from the state police and Lake County sheriff`s department.

Kupsak said investigators planned to question the young man who apparently owned the Toyota and is related to Wilson`s former wife. He said it is not known whether there was any connection between the abandonment of the Toyota and the Buick in almost the same area on the same day.

Gill said the Buick was found about 100 yards from where the Toyota was found. The car had been reported stolen on Monday from the northwest suburbs. Along with the state police and Lake County sheriff`s office, Vernon Hills police are being assisted in the investigation by police from Deerfield, Mundelein and Buffalo Grove.

Kupsak said it has not been decided whether the helicopter will again be used in the search for Wilson. The missing man, who lives at 443 W. Wilson Ave., Palatine, worked at the gas station for about five months.

Mobil Oil Corp. has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for Wilson`s disappearance. Kupsak asked anyone who saw anything unusual near the gas station in the early hours of Monday to call the Vernon Hills police.

Investigators said there is no evidence that anyone forced his way into the cubicle where the $437 was taken from a safe. The door to the cubicle was left open and Wilson`s keys were found inside, they said.